If you're setting out from Ypres, you have a range of different cycle networks to choose from. They all start off from the Market Square. Below are some of the highlights; the maps for each of the networks we've selected, are all available to buy at our hotel reception.
Or do you prefer to do your own research before leaving home? Then all of the maps are available to buy through Westtoer's handy webshop. Below, we've picked out just a handful of the routes available. If you're looking for more inspiration, then click on the links to the Ypres Tourist Board. The possibilities are endless!
If you're planning to do a cycling holiday, then you won't find a better place to stay than with us. Bikes can be safely locked away in our secure 'bike shed' or in our garage. Peace of mind guaranteed. By the way, our garage also has a space where you can carry out any work required on your bikes, in addition to being a storage facility where they can stand safely, in between rides. Like we said, Ariane Hotel is THE place to be for the recreational and professional cyclist.
Are you staying at the Ariane? Then we can also organize a picnic for you!
Our map of the Westhoek Cycle Network brings the nicest corner of West Flanders into focus: Ypres, Heuvelland, Diksmuide, Veurne and everything else in between!
Fancy a tour which treats you to a visit to 'Koers'; the museum of professional cycling in Roeselare? Or would you like to cycle around the many lovely vineyards in Heuvelland and sample a few of the local wines en route? Or maybe cycle out to Poperinge to admire the hop fields and taste the locally brewed beers?
No matter what your interest, this map will help you to put together your own route; by joining up the numbered 'junctions', you can make your tour as long or as short as you want it to be.
With this cycle route, you can combine cycling with walking! If you intend to visit all the sites featured, then you'd better set aside a whole day for the tour!
The route begins on the Market Square and follows the 'Little Ypres Salient' from north to south. On the way, you'll discover various sites associated with the First World War and come across three entry points for the walking network. At these points, it's possible to view some film footage, explaining the local significance of the site, read some information panels and pick up a folder of the walking route. From each entry point, it's possible to link up with different circular walks (short, medium and longer distances), winding through the fascinating and often little-changed natural landscape of the war.
Extending out across the Little Ypres Salient, some 138 elm trees were planted to commemorate the centenary of the start of the First World War. These 'memorial trees' mark out both the Allied and the German front lines. You can recognise the trees by the metal frame protecting each trunk, which either has a blue stripe at the top (Allied front) or a red stripe (German front). Information boards on each frame give precise details of exactly where the front line lay.
While you're out, call in at the Hooge Crater Museum, a marvelous private initiative run by an enthusiastic family, which will add something extra to the enjoyment of your tour!
This ride begins 8km from Ypres, in Zonnebeke, the heart of the infamous Ypres Salient. The battle of Passchendale, where hundreds of thousands of soldiers died over several months, gaining only a few kilometers of ground, remains an international symbol for the futility of war.
The Memorial Museum Passchendale 1917, keeps the memory of that battle alive. The more than 600 metre long display, doesn't only show the visitor an extensive collection of wartime artefacts, but also takes you into a carefully reconstructed trench system and dugout. The effect is stunning, you are really taken back in time. The museum is the ideal starting-out point for a tour of the former battlefields. 'The Legacy' cycle route is a pleasant way to get to know the heritage of Zonnebeke and its surrounding area.
The Peace Route leaves from Ypres and brings you first to the provincial domain of Palingbeek and Hill 60. You then move into the neighbouring area of Zonnebeke, where you can visit the impressive Commonwealth Tyne Cot Cemetery.
Moving on, the route goes northwards to Langemark, where the German Students' Cemetary (Duitse Soldatenfriedhof) is located. Around 3.000 young soldiers are buried here. Returning to Ypres, the route takes you to Essex Farm Cemetery. Here, the Canadian Surgeon, Jon McCrae, wrote his war poem 'In Flanders Fields' that has since become synonymous with sacrifice and death. The site contains several original bunkers and an 'Advanced Dressing Station'.
Get to know the hilly region to the South of Ypres; this is a natural beauty spot and has a surprisingly curvaceaous terrain in what is thought to be a 'flat' country!
Ancient hills (most famously, Mount Kemmel and the Red Mountain) dictate the landscape in this area. The route takes you through the 8 villages of Heuvelland as well as linking up with Messine, on the border with France, and the provincial domain of Palingbeek.
The tour is one to warm up those leg muscles!
This cycle ride was developped especially for kids, en takes you along the stunning nature domain "De Palingbeek" with an enormous playground.
The journey continues to the peacefull Polygone woods, where you cycle passed the child friendly restaurant "Nonnebos". In the Memorial Museum Passchendaele 1917 in Zonnebeke, kids can discover more about WWI in an interactive way and visit the trenches.
Fun fact: Jaek & Nink is Ypres dialect for "yes" and "no"
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